conceived in such different spirit, has no power to dispel the almost
ethereal charm that hovers over the place.

The distinctive note of the court is one of exquisite richness. As one
enters from any side the impression grows that this is the most
decorative of all the courts; and yet one is not conscious of any
individual bit of decoration as such. Everything fits perfectly: arches,
tower, cornices, finials, statues, planting-it all goes to enrich the
one impression. Someone has said that the court is not architecture, but
carving; and that suggests perfectly the decorative wealth of the
composition.

Architecture

The style of architecture has been guessed at as everything from
Romanesque and Gothic to Flamboyant Renaissance and Moorish. The truth
is that the court is a thoroughly original conception; and the architect
has clothed his pre-conceived design in forms that he has borrowed from
all these styles as they happened to suit his artistic purpose. The
spirit of the court is clearly Gothic, due to the accentuation of the
vertical lines-and one will note how the slender cypresses help the
architecture to convey this impression. The rounded arches, modified in
feeling by the decorative pendent lanterns, hint of the awakening of the
Renaissance period in Spain, during the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries, when the vertical lines, and decorative leaf and other
symbolic ornaments of the severer Gothic, were so charmingly combined
with classic motives.

The architecture here is inspiring as a symbol of the American
"melting-pot." It is a distinct and original evolution, recalling the